


Ain't it funny how we pretend we're still a child

by cat_enthusiast



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Hide and Seek, Light Angst, TARDIS exploration, The Tardis is smart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25149487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cat_enthusiast/pseuds/cat_enthusiast
Summary: A game of hide-and-seek inside the TARDIS is the perfect excuse for Yaz and Graham to do some exploring.Coincidentally the TARDIS gives them full access to do so.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/River Song
Comments: 10
Kudos: 131





	Ain't it funny how we pretend we're still a child

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is something I had in my drafts for a while. I thought I might write something more to it, but then decided against for some reason.
> 
> It's literally just a long description of the inside of the TARDIS and some rooms that belonged to past companions or had been used by past character (can you figure out who?). Nothing is ever specified, you are welcome to create your own headcanons (and I would love to hear them too!) 
> 
> I never write angst, and this is very light as far as angst goes. In fact, I don't even like reading angst, the gays have suffered enough.
> 
> Anywayy, here, have this un-betaed piece of writing, hope someone enjoys it! :D
> 
> (title from Galapagos by The Smashing Pumpkins)

Turns out the Tardis was an excellent place to spend time.

The Doctor knew that particularly well. But it didn't mean that the time spent on the Tardis was not always fun, especially if she was by herself. 

The Fam was there this time. They lounged in the kitchen, then in one of the rooms stacked with comfortable sofas and fluffy pillows. 

Then, getting bored of staying still, they decided to play hide and seek, until Ryan got lost. So now they were looking for him. Unless he was still hidden, but it had been a while. And everyone knew Ryan was prone to incidents. 

No one was particularly worried, the Tardis seemed to be playing  _ with them  _ in her own way. And was not being helpful. At all. 

Yaz and Graham went one way, and the Doctor another, because she knew her ship. Or that’s what she kept saying. 

“I know how this will end” groaned Yaz “the Doctor’s going to get lost too, and we’ll spend the rest of eternity trying to find those two.” But she didn’t sound too worried about it. An eternity in the ship didn’t sound so bad.

The Tardis hummed around them. She sounded hurt by their lack of faith. Maybe in a couple more hours, she’ll let them find one of their missing friends.

They had passed multiple rooms, most of them pointless and long abandoned. Like the library that held only kid’s books, in french. 

Then there was the empty swimming pool, half-full champagne glasses still sitting around it next to open books and sunglasses. The barn had been an interesting find, disappointingly lacking horses though. They passed almost five med-bays, each different from the last. A lot of bedrooms, most of them with bunk beds. The most interesting had been a park, small flowers growing in the grass, it looked neverending, so they didn’t attempt to cross it. 

It felt like they were intruding, but the Tardis never locked any door, they knew she could do that if needed. No door was left locked this time. So they kept pushing them open, curiosity getting the best of them. 

They walked through corridors that looked medieval and then became like the inside of a crappy hotel. It now had the aspect of an old Mayan temple, old stone walls with torches and vines seeping through the cracks. They didn’t realize when the walls slowly turned to sheet metal, illuminated from the high ceiling by cold fluorescent lights. A series of doors appeared as they walked. 

“More doors” Graham mumbled to himself. Yaz nodded, also to herself. 

“Let’s see” she smiled, pushing the first one open. 

The doors never seemed to match the surroundings they were in, as if they had been plugged from a corridor and placed in a different one. Knowing a little about how the Tardis worked, they knew it was very possible that was the case. 

The first door was white. It felt familiar, like Yaz’s own bedroom door felt. White painted wood. Nothing particular about it. Like any old door in a suburban house. 

There was a bedroom inside it. It smelled like clean laundry and women’s perfume. There were bunk beds again, with blue sheets and comforters, none of them were made. Yaz felt like whoever used it had left just minutes ago, their scent lingering. 

Graham spotted a red scarf hanging on the back of a chair, a jean jacket under it. 

They closed the door and went onto the next one.

It was another infirmary, this one with dark walls and two hospital beds that didn’t look too comfortable. They quickly moved on, shutting the metal door behind them. 

Behind the next door, a heavy wooden one, was yet another bedroom. This one looked ancient like it could belong to a grandpa, in the XIX century. There were books everywhere and an old sweater left on a burgundy sofa. 

The doors were many, and most of them held rooms they could get lost inside. Either because they seemed neverending, or because they were so full of things and trinkets from the lives of different people they could spend days discovering who they had been. 

The corridor walls were now sticky with a fluorescent matter none of them planned on touching, but before they could realize it led them to an open place. 

It was another control room, Yaz and Graham realized quickly. 

The floor was metal, everything was. It felt colder without the warm light from the crystals. The column in the middle was transparent, with other cylinders inside it. It looked dead. 

On cue the Tardis hummed again, signaling she was very much alive still.

Yaz felt almost transfixed by the sight. It felt lived, of course. 

She knew the Doctor had had different faces, it was still hard to believe, but it was a fact she knew to be true.

Seeing this other console room made it real. She had been another person, like, a whole different person. Different personality, different taste, other friends that were not them. People had walked and lived in this room, who knows for how many years. Centuries even. 

They stayed there, sat around waiting for someone to come by. Exploring.

When they felt more than half an hour had gone by, they got up and went back the way they came. But of course, the corridor was different. A row of doors only on the left wall. 

They saw a fish pond with a lovely bench looking over it. What looked like a mad scientist's lab, probably the Doctor’s. A small closet with cleaning supplies. A classroom straight out of middle school. And some dining rooms that seemed barely used, one of them still had hot soup set for two. 

“I think-” Graham looked over at the still fuming plates of soup “I think time inside the Tardis, is not linear” 

“I was thinking the same." Yaz thought that maybe someone would find the kitchen, a thousand years from now, and find their hot cups of tea. Forgotten before an adventure. Graham nodded, closing the door. 

The next door was blue. Yaz looked over at Graham next to her. Something about this felt important. The door was blue, wooden, painted blue. It felt important because it was Tardis blue, not any blue. The paint was scratched in some places, with years of use. Yaz ran her fingers over circular Gallifreyan etched on the surface. The Tardis didn’t translate. 

They pushed it open, slowly, carefully. An unknown scent quickly hit them as they did so. 

It was another bedroom. But this one felt different. Loved in a way some of the others weren’t.

“Who do you think it was?” Graham asked, because this time it felt relevant, when it hadn’t been before. Yaz shrugged, wondering the same.

The room was sizable, and if it hadn’t been for the large bed visible from the entrance, they would’ve had a hard time guessing it was indeed a bedroom. Because it looked more like a whole apartment than just a bedroom. 

The bed was unmade, white sheets spilling on the floor. The pillows still had the imprint of whoever had slept on it. 

Everything was wooden. The bedside tables were cluttered with piles of books and random objects. There was a framed photo on one of them. It pictured a couple. He was taller, brown hair and a silly smile. She was older, powerful green eyes and the wildest set of golden curls. Yaz wondered if one of them was the Doctor. She left the picture where she had found it. 

There were a lot of libraries lining the walls, the titles varied, but most of them were history related. She supposed the Doctor wouldn’t need them, she had been there for most of history, and had watched the rest happen. 

Graham was tempted to repeat the question. Who  _ had  _ lived here though? 

It felt warm, the desk was still covered in documents and random notes. There was another framed picture. A young couple. She was beautiful, and had long ginger hair. He was shorter, roman nose and short sandy hair.

There was a small kitchen, a luxurious bathroom with a large tub. A sitting room too. And a large walk-in closet. 

It wasn't right, them being in there. It felt wrong. Why had the Tardis let them in? 

Everything in the room screamed  _ loved _ , these things belonged to someone. A woman, by the sheer amount of dresses in the closet. There were clothes on the floor too and on top of chairs. The large majority were not dresses though. There was an undone bowtie tied to one of the poles of the bed. 

It was wrong, they shouldn’t be here. 

“She had always been particularly messy, yes” the voice startled Yaz, she quickly turned around. The Doctor was there, looking around from the door frame. Ryan was just behind her, head poking in. 

“Sorry Doc, didn’t mean to intrude” Graham turned too, ready to leave. But the Doctor didn’t move. 

“Weren’t you wondering who this belongs to?” she spoke in present tense, someone still lived here. “Well, she hasn’t used it in quite a lot of years, but I never lose hope, and neither does the Old Girl, huh?” she grazed the walls, the Tardis whirred in response. 

“Whose is it?” Ryan asked. The Doctor let him in, fixing her gaze on the inscription on the door. Her fingers brushed over it, her expression sad.

“River Song” she translated “my wife” her smile grew bigger and prouder. But she was already turning around, leaving them behind. 

They left the room too, closing the door softly behind the,

The control room opened in front of them, before any of them could say anything else. When Yaz turned around again the door had disappeared. 

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it please comment! 
> 
> have a great day <3


End file.
